Drug raid nets $6bn in bonds

Police were today assessing more than $6 billion (£4.4 billion) worth of suspect US bonds seized together with a hoard of drugs and £7 million of assets by British officers investigating a Colombian drugs and money cartel.

Police were today assessing more than $6 billion (&#xA3;4.4 billion) worth of suspect US bonds seized together with a hoard of drugs and &#xA3;7 million of assets by British officers investigating a Colombian drugs and money cartel.

The National Crime Squad (NCS) swooped on addresses in north London and Essex during two raids in July and August this year but news of the drugs and money bust only emerged last night after Colombian authorities announced details.

Nine men charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to supply Ecstasy appeared in court this summer.

As a result of the investigation, information was passed to the Colombian authorities and a joint operation was set up.

A NCS spokeswoman said officers, assisted by Customs and Excise, stumbled across the US bonds during a drugs raid on a house in July.

But she stressed the bonds were still under investigation to ascertain their authenticity.

"We are still conducting inquiries as to whether the bonds are genuine or not."

Seized goods, including car and houses were estimated to be worth about &#xA3;7 million.

During the July and August raids, officers also unearthed 55,000 Ecstasy tablets, 15 kilos of amphetamine powder, a couple of kilos of Ecstasy powder and a negligible amount of cocaine.

Their discoveries led to information being passed on to the Colombian authorities and 9.5 kilos of cocaine was later found by police in Ecuador. Two people, believed to be Colombians, were arrested by Colombian authorities last Friday.

In Britain, three other men and a woman were arrested in addition to the nine charged, but all were released on police bail.

The nine facing drugs charges are from north London or Essex, although one also has a house in Colombia. They appeared in a court in Aldershot, Hampshire, on July 20 and August 9 and are due at Winchester Crown Court in mid-November.